Saturday, April 28, 2012

Sardarpura massacre case witness alleges boycott

Ahmedabad: A Hindu witness in Sardarpura massacre
case has complained that villagers have boycotted him and even targeted him for
speaking against the rioters.

During
a media briefing on Thursday,Mangabhai Raval said he testified against the
rioters and many of those whom he had named were convicted.Raval said he was
running a tea stall,but people stopped coming to his shop and he had to close
it.

Before
I was to depose,they told me not to speak against them.After conviction, they
pressurized me to leave the place.There are systematic efforts on part of the
authorities for eviction, he said.He has filed a complaint before the higher
authorities in this regard.

Other
witnesses of the case claimed that they had cited specific instances that
showed that there was a conspiracy behind the attack in which 33 persons were
killed on March 1,2002.The special court refused to believe that it was a
conspiracy and held that the attack was a spontaneous reaction of Godhra
carnage.

Social
activist Teesta Setalvad said the witnesses have appealed against the trial
courts decision that it was not a conspiracy though the SIT and state government
do not press hard on this aspect.The Gujarat high court is likely to hear the
appeals on Friday for admission.

Teesta Setalvad

Teesta Setalvad is an educationist, journalist and human rights activist who has been committed to an egalitarian and diverse India, at the forefront of the struggle for justice equality and non discrimination. She co edits Communalism Combat heads and directs Education for a Plural India programme and is Secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace. CJP is a Mumbai based trust committed to accountability, transparency and punishment to perpetrators of mass crimes within Indian democracy.